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Showing posts from July, 2020

Reality of sacrifice in Eid-al-Azha: No fantasy in the symbolic act in Islam

By Dr MA Rashid* The companions of Prophet Hazrat Muhammed Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam (Peace and blessings be upon him) asked, “What is this sacrifice(Qurbani)?” He answered that it is the Sunnah of your father Hazrat Ibrahim Alaihissalam(Peace be upon him).” This historic Qurbani incident took place about five and a quarter thousand years ago in “Mina” near “Khana-e-Ka’aba” located in Mecca, a desert region of Arabia. This touching event will keep the faith fresh and remain enlightening and memorable for the Muslim community throughout the life. Sacrifice is very important among different forms of worships performed for Allah. The reason for this is that Hazrat Ibrahim Alaihissalam was the most beloved prophet of Allah. Allah himself conferred upon him the title of “Khaleel”, which means an intimate friend. This incident of the sacrifice of Hazrat Ibrahim Alaihissalam provides an example of a practice which show unlimited and superlative love for Allah. Hazrat Ismail(Peace be upon him

RTI query on societal diversity in higher judiciary: CIC lobs ball back into DoJ’s court

By Venkatesh Nayak* Last week, the Central Information Commission (CIC) remanded a two-and-a-half-year old RTI query about the procedures adopted for ensuring adequate representation for candidates belonging to weaker segments of society in the higher judiciary back to the Department of Justice (DoJ) for fresh consideration. DoJ had not bothered to send any reply to either the RTI application or the first appeal filed in 2018 until a second appeal was filed before the CIC. Even in its 5-month late reply, DoJ merely cited “confidentiality” for all communication between the Central Government and the Chief Justices on this subject and a 10-year-old RTI case that was pending in the Supreme Court of India at that time ro refuse to part with any information. Now the CIC has given the DoJ another opportunity to apply its mind to the RTI query on the ground that the 10-year old case was decided in November 2019 when a Constitution Bench of the Apex Court recognised that the Chief Justice of

John Weeks humanised economics as discipline, questioned power of capital

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* Prof John Weeks, widely admired development economist passed away on 26th of June 2020 at the age of 79. His death is a blow to many friends, comrades, colleagues, students and fellow progressive economists. He was born in Austin, educated in Texas and Michigan, lived and worked most of his professional life in the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, UK where he continues to be a Professor Emeritus after his retirement. His urban upbringing and professional life in metropolis could not confined himself within narrow silo of privileges. He looked at issues of everyday working class lives beyond territories. His publications show his abilities as an interdisciplinary researcher spanned several continents. He did not fall for the fashionable wave of regional specialisations within economics for career progression. His extraordinaire mind and research interests moved around issues in different continents from Africa, Americas to Eu

Maharashtra cane-cutters: Women, children face hardest brunt of exploitation

Below are excerpts from Oxfam India’s discussion paper “Human Cost of Sugar Living and Working Conditions of Migrant Cane-cutters in Maharashtra” by Pooja Adhikari and Vani Shree with inputs from Namit Agarwal, Ranu Bhogal, Diya Dutta and Sayantoni Datta : *** Approximately 80% of the population in Marathwada is dependent on agriculture and animal husbandry for their livelihood. These are the only sources of sustained earnings for the community. However, prolonged drought over the years has led to agrarian distress, and lack of alternative livelihood opportunities forces people to migrate. Crop insurance schemes have failed to cover these losses. Funds disbursed under the crop insurance scheme for drought prone areas of Marathwada were inadequate to cover the losses. The total amount disbursed under the scheme is limited to a few thousand rupees per person, compared to the loss incurred in hundreds of thousands per person/ per season on each crop. Government’s minimum employment guar

Life in vertical buildings in Covid-lockdown times, otherwise not good for sure

By Mansee Bal Bhargava, Sherayu Wadekar* The impact of lockdown-affected is underrated currently amidst the world continuing (rightly so) with the Covid affected. Covid and lockdown are interrelated, their effects too are interdependent over time and space. Although there is right now no such thing like the Worldometers for lockdown, like the one for Covid, however if we collate the data of the rising issues of just suicides by depression and domestic violence, deaths by hunger and hatred, we may get shocking numbers way far than those affected by coron. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that those not affected by Covid are equally affected by the lockdown with long-term unaccounted physical-psychological impacts. The lockdown impact is going to be more on people who are living in the high-middle rise buildings with barely a balcony to stand outside, an open space to stroll outdoors and in many cases even no balcony in the building and/or open space in the premise. We have heard

Will Niti Aayog plan to announce woman leadership is crucial for economic revival?

Open letter by Prof Mansee Bal Bhargava , entrepreneur, researcher and educator with the SaciWATERS, Hyderabad, and is Environmental Design Consultant, Ahmedabad, to Niti Aayog and PMO on the need for a chief strategist and not chief economist for the Niti Aayog: *** I’m writing with great passion regarding professional concerns over the vacancy position of chief economist cum sr lead at Niti Aayog which is also published now in regular news. My concerns are two-folds with a concluding remark more as a suggestion: Qualification sought for the Position: It is worrying that the qualification asked is biased asking for a PhD in Economics. Planning is not about Economics alone! We have seen over the decades since the inception of the predecessor of Niti Aayog, the Planning Commission, that doing only Economics has not brought us to a good state of Economy rather Development. Therefore, here is a chance to Rethink! The position should rather call for a person with a qualification of Mu

New Andhra tribal districts should keep in view diversity, topography, cultural context

By Dr Palla Trinadha Rao The Government of Andhra Pradesh has taken a decision in a recent cabinet meeting to constitute a committee to study the reorganization of the existing 13 districts into 25 based on the number of Parliament constituencies. Instead of considering the Parliamentary constituency as a unit for forming a new district, the Araku (ST) Parliament Constituency may be trifurcated for the creation of new tribal districts keeping in view its diversity in the terms of topography, people living there in and their cultural context. The Andhra Pradesh Districts (Formation) Act 7 of 1974 provides for the formation of districts in the state of Andhra Pradesh and for alteration of areas or boundaries of the districts in the interests of better administration and development of the areas comprised therein and for matters connected therewith. Unlike in plain areas, in the context of tribal areas, geographical contiguity, match in identities, histories and cultural practices of trib

Would Niti Ayog position for chief economist welcome woman leadership?

Prof Mansee Bal Bhargava , entrepreneur, researcher and educator, who is with the SaciWATERS, Hyderabad, and is Environmental Design Consultant, Ahmedabad, has written an open letter to Niti Ayog and PMO insisting, “We need a chief strategist and not chief economist for the ‘Niti’ Ayog in its true meaning and to realign India’s growth”: *** I’m writing with great passion regarding professional concerns over the vacancy position of chief economist cum sr lead at Niti Ayog which is also published now in regular news. My concerns are two-folds with a concluding remark more as a suggestion: Qualification sought for the Position: It is worrying that the qualification asked is biased asking for a PhD in Economics. Planning is not about Economics alone! We have seen over the decades since the inception of the predecessor of Niti Ayog, the Planning Commission, that doing only Economics has not brought us to a good state of Economy rather Development. Therefore, here is a chance to Rethink!

Caste, gender violence, systemic poverty are promotion of Manu’s concept of karma

Reproduced below is an interview with Martin Macwan, recipient of the prestigious Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Award, and founder, Navsarjan Trust, Ahmedabad, by Johanna Deeksha,  published in  Edex Live , on how protests by African-Americans has begun to impact India’s Dalits, who have begun saying that ‘Manu Must Fall’: *** 

Martin Macwan on how India can take inspiration from Black Lives Matter movement

By Johanna Deeksha*  Despite the raging pandemic that is threatening our life, the African-American community took over the streets of the United States protesting for a freedom that the world had assumed they had won in 1865. Too many from the community had been murdered, abused, exploited, robbed, harassed and threatened for too long, and now, after George Floyd, they had decided to escalate their demand for freedom and justice. Along the way they pulled down statues of men who had been celebrated by a history that had oppressed them — the Confederates — believers in White Supremacy and the institution of slavery. And as the African-Americans rage on, the tremors of their footsteps have reached India and the oppressed communities in this land are now saying again that ‘Manu Must Fall’. They mean the Manu statue which stands at the Rajasthan High Court. And the man who take these demands to Sonia Gandhi, the President of the Indian National Congress, which is the ruling party in the s

Online education amidst intensified alienation triggered by Covid-19 crisis

By Pritha Chandra* During Covid-19 times, the ‘social distancing’ catchphrase has invaded every aspect of our lives. Public space has been fragmented into individualized, quarantined units, intensifying social relations as aggregates of their discretized interactions. Unlike other pandemics of yesteryears, Covid-19 has given a tremendous push to technology to secure social distancing. In the field of education, the phenomenon of online education was already slowly gaining space especially as complementary to traditional classroom education and as a mechanism of distance learning. Today, the ideology of social distancing and its institutionalization have brought online education in the center of educational systems. It has acquired legitimacy and the capacity to take over the whole system of education. In countries such as India, where Covid-19 has been used by the state as an opportunity to revamp various sectors, including health and medicine, a reconception of education is underway.